Bubi

The bubis, also known as boobes or adeejahs, are an African ethnic group of the Bantu branch, originally from the island of Bioko, formerly Fernando Poo, in Equatorial Guinea.

The Bubi are one of the minority ethnic groups in Equatorial Guinea and make up about 6.5% of the country's total population. Most of the Bubi population lives on the island of Bioko, although we can find various communities of emigrants and exiles in Spain, Cameroon and Gabon, among others.

Most of the Bubi population in Equatorial Guinea have Bubi as their mother tongue and Spanish as a second language. According to Jan Vansina, the Bubi culture is a clear example of the original culture of the Bantu peoples at the beginning of the great migrations to central and southern Africa. The Bubis are believed to have arrived on the island of Bioko from the shores of present-day Cameroon at least a millennium before the arrival of the first European explorers in the 15th century.

Etymology

It is believed that the term bubi was first applied to the island's inhabitants by a British naval officer. It is assumed that the term derives from the word that the islanders used to say man. In the north of the island they used boobé, while in the south they used moomé. The Bubi called the island Oche in the north and Oricho in the south. The islanders called themselves Bochoboche in the north and Bochoboricho in the south. Foreigners were called Bapotó.

Origin

Bubi children

The bubis belong to the Bantu family, forming some linguistic characteristics. The structure of these languages is agglutinative, and they are characterized by the exclusive use of prefixes which determine the number and other noun accidents, passing from this to the adjective and the verb. by very rational rules and whose origin is very obscure.

The Bantu are supposed to have come from the sources of the Nile, Ubangui and Congo. Among the groups are the mestizos of the union of pygmies and the Hamites or Ethiopians. The second group is formed by the same blacks and the hottentots; this second group is more numerous. The first group, taller in stature and lighter in colour, is made up of the Bamasa, the Sangana, the Nzemzem and all the Fang, which include the Yaúndes, the Cameroon bules, the Ntum, the Bujebas, etc. The ibalas, batangas, subus, gumbas from Cameroon, the pongües from Gabon, the bengas, the kombes, balengues and bapukus and finally the bubis from Fernando Póo belong to the second group.

Although their origin is still unclear, it is believed that they come from different waves of emigrants who, 2000 years ago, were forced to leave the coasts of present-day Cameroon due to the pressure of the Fang geographic occupation. Only in the second half of the 19th century did King Moka manage to politically unify all the Bubis, a situation that would not last long due to the Spanish repression that ended with the imprisonment of the last cocorocó, King Malabo. From then on, the Spanish began to bring Fangs from the mainland to work the fields, given the lack of disposition of the Bubis, and they would end up becoming the majority inhabitants of the island and ruling since independence in 1968 with almost no Bubi participation in the management of their own affairs.

[Manifesto for the Self-Determination of the Bubi People.]

Last Kings or Botuku m´oricho" Bubi:

King Malabo, 1930

- 1850 Lorite

 1850 - 2 Mar 1898 Moka

23 Feb 1899 - 3 Jul 1904 Sas Ebuera

 Jul 1904 - Apr 1937 Malabbo

 1937 - 194. Alobari

 194. - 1952 Oriche

Kings of the Bubis

Dinastía Bamöumá

• Mölambo (1700-1760)
• Loríité (1760-1810)
• Löpóa (1810-1842?)

Bahítáari Dynasty

• Möadyabitá (1842-1860)
• Sëpaókó (1860-1874 or 1875)
• Moka (1875-1899)
• Sás-Ebuera (1899-1904)
• Malabo Lopelo Melaka (1904-1937)
• Malabo II (1937-2001)
• Hugo Bubi Pajete (2005-current)

Villages

Culture

Botoi or community rite of fertility in Rebola.

The Bubis are a large ethnic group of diverse cultures, languages, and religions. Their culture is mostly traditional African. On the other hand, other Bubi people accommodated themselves to the western way of life in the cities.

The Bubi society is matriarchal, the lineage is traced by the line of the mothers, since the girls are considered as those in charge of perpetuating the family.

Traditionally, the condition of a woman did not exclude the right to inheritance or to hold positions in different spheres: family, political and religious.

Known Boobs